W&L Alumna Keckler Twirls into a New Job

By Julie CampbellApril 29, 2013

Got a hankering for the Atomic Chili Cheese Dog, a specialty of the Twirly Top, in Gardners, Pa.? Never fear, it will remain on the menu under the new owner—Sarah Keckler, a member of Washington and Lee’s Class of 2010.

Sarah, who grew up on a farm two miles away from her new business, had been working as a project manager in Washington. “It was pretty crazy when I told my boss, friends and co-workers in D.C. that I was quitting my job to go serve ice cream,” she told the (Carlisle, Pa.) Sentinel in a nice profile. As the newspaper points out, her B.S. in business administration comes in handy while running her new enterprise.

The Twirly Top is around 60 years old, the last of its breed in the area. It’s especially popular with folks who enjoy stopping in for a soft-serve cone on their way to the nearby Laurel and Fuller lakes. When the previous owners put the place up for sale, locals were concerned that it would close. “We’ve been coming here since we were little,” one relieved customer told the reporter.

Sarah has her hands full now, what with refreshing the menu, learning the recipe for onion rings and deciding to close on Sundays. “I was pretty excited to take it on,” she told the paper. “It’s a new era of the Twirly Top.”